Canandaigua to Buy a 2nd Premium Winery

Canandaigua Brands, the beverage company known for its inexpensive wine labels Inglenook and Almaden, surprised the wine industry by saying it would make a major move into the premium-wine business by buying Franciscan Estates in Napa Valley. The Fairport, N.Y., firm, which also had announced plans to buy premium winemaker Simi Winery in Sonoma, said it planned to manage the two wineries together as a separate division. Richard Cartiere, who publishes the Wine Market Report in Calistoga, said the $240-million purchase of Franciscan, a group of domestic and Chilean wine brands, thrusts Canandaigua into a leading position in the super- and ultra-premium wine categories.

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